Jiyū Ishi: To Walk
by PreciousCosmos
Summary: Shun may be throwing his life away in Sanctuary, but June still has hers to sort out. Part 1 of the Jiyū Ishi series


June knew far too intimately what being helpless felt like, and she didn't want to be awake right now to experience it again. This isn't what she became a Saint for...

The room she found herself in was too extravagant; the clean softness of it crushed the piece of her that only knew hardship. She didn't belong here, even touching the covers around her on the room's cold bed was wrong. But she couldn't help clutching them closer around her and hiding her face.

Half a world away, and she knew it when he died. The kindest one, the one who didn't deserve this life, who was murdered just like their master for reasons she tried to understand for her sanity. Why had she become a Saint for such an evil thing? Why couldn't Shun have just listened to her?

Now she was the only one left to rebuild Andromeda Island, but what was the damn point? She would never be able to do it alone.

"I warned him…" Her own voice broke as she spoke, and the pain truly sank into her throbbing heart.

* * *

Some hours passed this way.

Being so far from her dearest friend and home, there was nothing else June could do but cry. By nightfall, she'd tried to think of somewhere she could go. Maybe since she was already here, she would find work and a place to stay in Japan. Over the years she spent with Shun, she had helped him learn the language of the island, and in turn, he taught his as best he could. She knew enough to get by, hopefully at least.

She sat up and stared off to the side of the darkened room, where the Chameleon Cloth sat at rest in a form reminiscent of its namesake, her whip coiled in its mouth like a tongue. Its bright metal glinted at her in the far-off light coming through the room's windows, insulting her with its beauty.

She could no longer look at it without feeling profound dread. Someday it was going to end her life, the same way Shun's Andromeda Cloth drove him to sacrifice everything for his fool's errand. Is that what he always wanted? She realized she must not have really known him.

Also realizing that she probably wouldn't find good work at this hour, she settled back down to attempt to recover enough so that she could go out early in the morning. No one had bothered her yet, in fact, even the man who brought her here seemed to have left the premises completely, so maybe she she was allowed to stay the night.

Somehow, there were no nightmares, just memories of those she had loved. But every one of them was gone now, so what was the difference?

* * *

The Cloth she couldn't stand to look at was the only thing she had left in the world, therefore it went with her as she prepared for a new life. She kept her mask as well, but decided it would be best to just carry it rather than obscure her face from employers.

For now, the only useful thing she really knew how to do in a place like this was fishing, having grown up on an island where that was the main food source, so the shore is where she headed to first.

Someone rode past her on a bicycle with a large package attached to it. She mildly wondered what that person must have thought of the hefty, ornate box she carried.

Her thoughts trailed to the ocean casting soft sounds along the shore. It smelled different here, almost stank compared to the shores of her untouched island. Missing that land and water now, though, would only do her harm. Consequently, she forced herself take deep breaths of the seaside city air, but it only made her throat ache from despair. This was the air he was born breathing, the first ocean he saw, and the land he needed to come back to for everything he cared about. She'd had the same desire once, forgotten somewhere along the line now.

And then it was like she ran right into him. She stopped, clearly seeing no one was near enough for her to have bumped into. It wouldn't have been any of them in the first place, and she felt it so suddenly. "Was I wrong? He's–" she said to herself disbelievingly. "Or have I gone insane?"

The tiny sensation of his closeness seemingly refused to stop.

"T-then it's–" _cosmos. _His cosmos, faint, like he simply wanted to make candlelight from his stars. She had to run, find him, before it went out.

She didn't have to go far. A group of children loudly playing in a courtyard caught her attention first, and just as soon, two older boys and a girl looking after them caught sight of her. Though she was too far away to hear, she could tell the boys began talking while glancing between her and each other. She ignored them, and instead tried to find any sign of Shun in their group. His cosmos had become stronger but no more intense, so surely that meant he was near?

One of them suddenly pointed across the street to the beach, keeping eye contact to make sure she understood he was trying to direct her. It immediately occurred to her that they must be the companions Shun mentioned, and that somehow they knew she was looking for him.

They had made it back from Sanctuary. She could have fallen to her knees in relief at the realization.

After a clear nod of thanks, she leaped a fence separating the stone path from the beach and ran across the sand, balanced a small skid down a dune, and came within sight of the line where the water left its waves. And facing the horizon, Shun just stood there, burning his cosmos ever so gently, almost like a beacon for some far out ship.

She didn't stop the fresh tears that poured out, just as she didn't slow down, or hold onto her mask. Carelessly, she slipped the Clothbox off her back with it, and the noise of the box's rattling smash on the sand finally got her closest friend's attention. His cosmos suddenly vanished, and she couldn't see his surprised face when she threw her arms around him, but after a moment he returned the embrace.

"June-san, you're still here?" He sounded genuinely concerned and confused. Why would he expect her to have disappeared while he was off getting himself killed?

"How could you ask that? I thought you died!" she yelled into his shoulder and tightened her hold. He hissed in pain at the touch, and June immediately released him in guilt. Of course he'd be hurt; what was she thinking grabbing him like that? She stared dismayed at the healing deep scratches covering his arms and face, knowing well that he was injured in the places she couldn't see as well. And being this close, she could sense how weary his cosmos had become.

Sadly, if not a little embarrassed, he said, "I'm sorry you're seeing me like this..we just returned from Greece barely an hour ago. The others look worse…"

She almost berated him, but he continued quietly, "It's all right, June-san. Seiya– we, the Sanctuary..we won! Master Albiore's death has been avenged, and it can't hurt anyone now." A soft smile brightened his unhealthily pale face, and she returned it, albeit with worry probably clouding her own.

"Shun, that's wonderful news, but you must take care of your wounds now. Why were you even burning your cosmos like that?" She couldn't bring herself to say it was the reason she found him in the first place.

"I–" he looked away thoughtfully a moment. "Ikki-niisan just left for the place he needs to be now, but for the moment, I think it's because I didn't realize..what it was really like to fight as a Saint, until yesterday. So many are sacrificed, June-san, I almost can't believe...and they deserve to be remembered somehow."

"You're meaning it like a memorial," she finished, being reminded of what many people in the world did to honor the dead.

"Yes, I suppose so."

She sighed for his kind thoughtfulness, something that was surely grief. "You have gained an insight I have not. Would you walk with me and explain it?" She couldn't entirely read the expression he gave in response, but he nodded. Without much effort, she lifted the Chameleon Clothbox onto her back, picked up her mask just to hold – after all, there was no reason for wearing it in front of Shun now – and together they ambled along the calm shore.

They eventually found that neither really wanted to speak, but it suited them. In turn they watched little creatures digging in the sand, spotted a person or two who braved a swim in the freezing morning waters, heard cars and more bicycles start filling the street, and June easily began to understand what he was thinking right then. Something finite had changed in him. She could tell when she had tried to stop him from going to the Sanctuary, and now that impression was even stronger.

He had left Andromeda Island, loving what he'd known, and had come back devoted to everything. Shun had found his brother again, so where did his powerful sense of purpose come from now?

As a Saint, she could only think of one probable thing. "Is Athena really with us?"

All he gave her in response was a smile that closed his eyes and a quiet, "Mhmm." Amused, she rolled her eyes away from him, happening to notice a bench up on the sidewalk. She went to it and sat down, removing her Clothbox more respectfully this time, while silently encouraging Shun to follow. She didn't miss the pain straining the corners of his eyes, but gratitude for the seat shined in them no less.

She'd almost hurt him just the same. Her desperation had been corrupting at the time, and it felt like the only thing she could do. Again tears burned her eyes as the weight of what she could have done pressed on her heart. "S-Shun, forgive me– for what I...Leda and Spica had to have followed me right to you. If they _ever_ show their faces here again, I'll kill them! I'll..oh, Shun, I'm so sorry."

For a second, he looked rather horrified at her outburst, then turned away towards the sea. But he touched her hand with reassurance. "There's nothing to forgive."

A moment of quietness passed as she let his words and presence calm her. He abruptly took a deep but peaceful breath and pulled his hand back to rest on his lap. "Do you not want to be a Saint anymore?" He nodded to her mask she'd set on the end of the bench. The question was asked like he was only wondering about the weather, but she knew he of all people wouldn't disapprove of her if she said she didn't.

But as it were, she wasn't sure she had a definite answer. "I don't know if I could do it, Shun. Fight like you, I mean. You're strong now, you must be to have defeated a whole land full of Saints our master could not." She sighed, then admonished with the tiredness she felt as well, "You need to rest."

"I know, but I haven't explained much yet."

Though she already understood, she could wait for him to find the right words.

"Walking.." he finally started, "maybe that's a way to describe it. Carry on. Keep walking. T-that's all I can tell you, June-san. I can feel it– I think our battles will never stop, but I'll always fight for Athena, you, everyone. I swear I'll fight."

"And so will I, Shun. I became a Saint, too, and I think I've just been trying to get strong the wrong way. I'll keep my Cloth and go back to rebuild our old home. Your place is with Athena, right?" She picked up her mask, the one she had painted herself when she was five years old, and threw it hard enough to land in the sea.

"You never needed it anyway," Shun smiled.


End file.
